Glenn: Hey folks, Glenn May here with BassResource.com. And I'm here with my good buddy Justin Kerr, an FLW pro. You've been fishing professionally since 2002 all over the country. You also guided for a number of years. Lots of experience in lots of different situations all around the country. Today we're talking a little bit about summer fishing, some of the tactics that work really well for that. So summertime, you know, what's that? About late May or so and into June and all throughout the really hot part of the season, fishing largemouth and smallmouth. Kinda walk me through your approach as summer progresses from the beginning all the way through.
Justin: You know, I live on the river lakes, Colorado River lakes. So, you know, obviously across the whole country, I kinda approach it the same. Shade as a major player in the summer. It's just...it gets so hot and, you know, shade is what I always target. You know, I throw a frog or grass, grass fishing and fishing, you know, either wood or heavy vegetation. And that's usually my number one staple for summertime fishing, is shade.
Glenn: Now would you fish a frog all day long or just in the morning hours?
Justin: Yeah, I'd fish it all day. Yeah, I fish frog, you know, all day long, especially on the river lakes, Colorado River, they love being up shallow. Even in that heat, sometimes it gets so hot here, they're still way up super shallow, you know, overhanging trees, reeds, and, you know, we just go with the frog and a topwater bait.
Glenn: Even on those a hundred degree days.
Justin: Yeah.
Glenn: They'll be right up shallow.
Justin: Right up shallow.
Glenn: A lotta people think about during the summer, you should got out and be fishing really deep and fishing the drop-offs and the ledges, but yet there's fish right up shallow and you can get those, too.
Justin: Yes. And then, you know, not all time it's not the winning pattern, it is a good way to catch fish. You know, they will go out deep in the summer and they'll fish their ledges and catch them that way. And swimbaits. Swimbait's a good thing in the summertime too, a lotta, you know, forage is around during that time, so. But, you know, being from me being on the Colorado River, living on Lake Havasu, you know, I fish shallow. I fish shallow every single day of the year, and summer's my favorite time to fish a frog in the shade pockets under trees, you know, just casting around anywhere. You know, it's...that bite's incredible.
Glenn: Oh yeah. Get a frog bite, I love those blowups. Do you do any punching?
Justin: Yes. Yeah. Yeah, I'll do a lotta punching. We get a lotta grass through the whole river system, and, you know, I get a three quarter to an ounce and a half weight. And I'll punch grass, and wood, and toolies too. I mean, just pick it up and, you know, I usually have two or three baits and that's one of my staples of that time of year, yeah.
Glenn: So do you start...when do you start punching? Like, how do you know, it's like, okay, this is a good time to start punching?
Justin: Yeah, you usually post spawn when the fish get done spawning.
Glenn: So right in the beginning of summer?
Justin: Yeah, right, that's when I start all the way through fall. You know, we're talking about summer, but it goes on. I mean, it's become a technique that you can do it a lotta times a year, you know, and it does have its perks, and, you know, summertime’s are great because they love hiding and hunkering down that grass, and in the shade, and being cool, and you punch that grass, it's...
Glenn: The bluegill'll be right underneath there and it'll be feeding on that.
Justin: Yep. So it's a good technique.
Glenn: Now you really like swimbaits being on the West Coast a lot. So what about the swimbaits during the summertime? How do you fish those?
Justin: You known I fish a little smaller swimbaits, more of a Paddle Tail or, you know, something Keitech, or Hollow Belly, something like that. They usually...you know the schooling deal, usually in the summer, they'll have some schooling, some shad around, and, you know, that's when we'll throw that Keitech. So it just depends if you have a lotta grass, you know, I'll put a weedless hook. If there's not a lotta grass in your lake, you just can run an open hook, you know, and catch them that way. But it's can be a really good way to catch a lotta bass in the summer.
Glenn: Absolutely.
Justin: Yeah.
Glenn: Let's talk a little about weather and changing the conditions. During the summertime most the time it's stable, which is why fishing is so good. This is what we like so much about it. But every once in a while, big storm will blow through. Now, there's different ways of approaching it before the storm approaches, when it's there, and what you do with the days following. Walk me through your progression there.
Justin: You know, in the summer I don't see it really changing too-too much as it would be prespawn or, you know, spring or even into fall. Summer, it seems like it gets a little cooler and the fish seem to bite better when the storm comes through. So, you know, the topwater bite is usually incredible in the rain, especially here, we have, you know, a couple days during the summer where a monsoon come through and it blows really hard and it rains, but the fishing is just incredible, and, you know, where you throw buzzbaits and topwater in the rain, and we love it.
Glenn: Sounds like fun.
Justin: Yeah. It is, it is.
Glenn: Awesome. All right. Well thank you for...
Justin: Hey, no problem.
Glenn: ...helping us out here. I really do appreciate that. You guys, try these out this summer. You're gonna love it, you're gonna catch a lot more fish following Justin's advice. For more tips and shows like this and for the answers to all your questions about bass fishing, visit BassResource.com.
